


Decision

by glitterburn (orphan_account)



Series: Heaven's Earth [4]
Category: Red Cliff
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 13:09:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/glitterburn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the tiger hunt, Sun Quan is faced with another decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decision

The death of the tiger changes everything.

He had made his decision before Zhou Yu urged him to the hunt. Kneeling on the damp ground, the feral stink of the beast in his nose and the sweat of fear upon his body, Sun Quan resented Zhou Yu. Everything seemed simple for him: a man who has lost everything has nothing else to lose.

Sun Quan fears loss. It unbalances him, unmans him. But he fears failure more, and so he knew he would make the alliance and go to war. If the men of Shu rely on him, perhaps he will not be so afraid. Perhaps he can take action.

He kills the tiger. In the end, it is a simple enough task, a matter of opportunity and determination. In the aftermath, his sister scrambles to hug him and the soldiers congratulate him, while Zhou Yu smiles slightly as if he'd planned it all. Sun Quan resents him for that, too: resents himself for being so easy to predict, so easily led.

When they return to the palace and Zhou Yu suggests drinking to the tiger's glorious death, Sun Quan refuses. For once he doesn't want to bask in his mentor's approval. Instead he wants to do something unpredictable.

He wants to fuck Zhuge Liang.

It would be easier for him to go to the side-palace and take one of his concubines. Easier and simpler. Instead, he's pacing through the palace in search of a man who doesn't belong to him, doesn't serve him, and who may reject him.

The uncertainty of Zhuge Liang's reaction is what excites him. Eager anticipation twists in his belly; his breath rasps in his throat. He strides out onto the palace walls, moving with single-minded purpose. The afternoon sun dazzles his vision. Sun Quan turns his head and raises his arm, shielding his eyes from the brightness.

At the corner of the walls, Zhuge Liang waits, his gaze fixed outwards over the kingdom of Wu, his hawk's wing fan clasped in his hand and held against his chest. He turns from his contemplation of the mountains and inclines his head in greeting. "Your Highness."

He's calm, in control of his every emotion. Sun Quan stares at him, forgetting why he came here. How is it possible, he wonders – how is it possible to be so intimate with someone and yet not betray so much as a flicker of awareness when they encounter one another again under the bright light of day?

He buries the thought. In its place, excitement bursts forth. "I killed a tiger. I shot it, Kong Ming. With one arrow – straight between its eyes as it leapt at me. I killed it."

"A tiger?" Zhuge Liang frowns. A look of disquiet crosses his face, but it is quickly gone. "Congratulations, my lord."

It's not the response Sun Quan expected, and suddenly he feels deflated. "I wanted to tell you."

Zhuge Liang considers him. "Where is the animal now?"

Sun Quan has no idea. He rode back with his sister and Zhou Yu. He didn't watch the soldiers haul the dead tiger back to the palace, though he has no doubt it was brought here as a prize. He gestures vaguely towards the outer courtyard. "It will be skinned and its pelt salted and cured. Perhaps I will wear its stripes on my cloak."

Zhuge Liang tilts his head a little. "I don't think so. You have no need to display your accomplishments in so obvious a fashion."

The declaration stuns him. Sun Quan is silent, fumbling for the words to express himself. What was so easy in his mind has now become a difficulty. For all his power and potency as Duke of Wu, seduction is not something that comes naturally to him.

The silence lengthens. Zhuge Liang smiles at him, moves the fan back and forth. There's a look of sweetness in his expression, and it makes Sun Quan bold. "About the alliance... I've made my decision."

Zhuge Liang's interest sharpens, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Sun Quan gazes at him, caught up in longing. The warmth of the sun feeds his desire and he lets it lure him, lets it loosen his tongue. "I will tell you in private," he says, his voice husky. "Come."

A smile, a bow; Zhuge Liang follows him.

They walk, passing through light and shadow as they move through courtyards and beneath porticos. Half the palace lies between them and the royal bed. Sun Quan doesn't want to wait that long. He makes a muffled sound of impatience.

Zhuge Liang gives him a sideways look. "The guest quarters are nearer."

Though startled by his directness, Sun Quan is pleased. He cannot let it show; he hides behind haughty disapproval. "You assume a lot."

"Not at all." Zhuge Liang smiles, demure; but in his eyes is a flare of excitement, a teasing wickedness. "I am merely hoping."

Sun Quan laughs. "Your room, then. And quickly! I hunger for you."

They hurry as if vying to outpace one another. It's been too long since Sun Quan has allowed himself to feel like this. When he was just the second son, he was permitted to indulge his senses with laughter and delight. Since he became Duke, his pleasures have been curtailed, set aside for the good of the kingdom. His laughter has become a rare thing, hidden away out of respect for his father and his brother and the ministers who would tear him to pieces.

The guest quarters are deserted. Zhuge Liang leads him through unfamiliar corridors and slides open a door. Sun Quan steps inside and looks around, noting the simplicity of the room. He turns as the door whispers shut; his mouth suddenly dry and his palms damp.

Zhuge Liang drops his fan to the floor. He leans against the wall and waits, his head tilted back to offer the line of his throat. Sun Quan goes closer then hesitates. He wants to touch. He puts out a hand; withdraws it. The anticipation pains him, mingles with the pulse of fear that flutters within. The danger is not that the tiger will leap, but what it will do to him once it has him pinned. And yet he killed the tiger before it could strike. Sun Quan doesn't know if he can do it twice. His hand trembles as he reaches out once more.

"Highness," Zhuge Liang murmurs, his eyes shining. His breath catches, comes fast and shallow. He lifts his chin a little more, patient and vulnerable.

Sun Quan crowds him, putting both hands on the wall either side of Zhuge Liang's head. He leans in, his lips parted, but doesn't touch. He inhales the scent of Zhuge Liang's skin, the warmth of sunlight from his clothes and the spicy fragrance of the oil in his hair. He caresses him with his breath, with the taunt of almost-kisses.

Zhuge Liang remains still and watchful, his mouth soft with need. Sun Quan nuzzles the side of his face and feels him shiver; he nips his ear and feels him pull from the caress. Turning blindly, Zhuge Liang utters a sound of capitulation and kisses him, the embrace one of desperate, unspoken hunger and rapture.

Sun Quan wrenches him from the wall and they stagger across the room, tearing at each other's clothes as they kiss. Jades clatter to the floor, robes hushing from their skin. Sun Quan yanks at the cloth wrapped around Zhuge Liang's topknot and ruffles it loose, his hair spilling gleaming black over his shoulders.

They drop onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and silk. Sun Quan holds him down, hands tight around his wrists. It's only an illusion of dominance, but it thrills him, makes him hard. Zhuge Liang arches from the mattress, his hips tilted to rub slow and steady against Sun Quan's thigh. His eyes flutter closed. "My lord, my lord..."

It's intoxicating, this whispered surrender. Sun Quan's control snaps. He crouches astride Zhuge Liang, covering his body, and grasps their cocks together. He gasps at the sensation, wanting more than pre-cum to ease their strokes. Sun Quan lifts his hand and licks across his palm and fingers. He tastes himself, tastes Zhuge Liang. A moan breaks from his throat, a sound echoed by the man beneath him.

Zhuge Liang raises his head. Sun Quan kisses him, presses him back down onto the quilt. He slides his wet hand between them and strokes their erections. His fingers close tight, jerking them off together. Zhuge Liang pushes up against him and they fall into a rhythm, down and up, action and reaction until they move smoothly as one.

Sticky wet heat eases their struggle. Sun Quan gasps, aware only of his lover. Kissing him, he tastes the sweat from his upper lip; he plunges in deep and turns the embrace savage. He sucks on Zhuge Liang's tongue and snarls hot, brutal words of lust against his mouth. Pulling free, Sun Quan rakes the tender skin of Zhuge Liang's neck. He wants to leave bruises, wants to mark him as a possession.

Zhuge Liang gasps, his breathing fractured. "Please." There's desperation in his voice and in the way his fingers dig in tight. He turns his head, his eyes closed and naked pleasure lighting his face. "Oh, my lord."

Sun Quan knows it's an act, a strategy designed with more cunning than Zhou Yu's lesson of the tiger, but he can't help himself. He wants Zhuge Liang, wants to break through the impenetrable barrier of rank and nation between them; he wants Zhuge Liang for himself, without limits or expectations. He knows he can't have him, and this is why his desire is so hot, a fire wild and fierce enough to consume them both.

He thrusts hard into his hand, against the wet skin of Zhuge Liang's taut belly. He leans down and covers Zhuge Liang's mouth with his own, swallows his cries and tastes his ecstasy. Sun Quan can't breathe, can't stop, his orgasm torn from him. He spills his seed in a glorious rush, his body shaking as he grinds down hard against his lover.

"Highness!" Zhuge Liang holds him, comes apart in his arms scant moments later, riding out his climax with long, slow strokes. Sun Quan hums encouragement in his throat, coaxing him with kisses until he feels Zhuge Liang relax.

They lie quiet together. Sun Quan moves, unsticking himself from the slide of semen across their skin. He rolls onto his side and uses Zhuge Liang's under-robe to wipe them both clean. Wrinkling his nose, he drops the stained garment onto the floor and sprawls across Zhuge Liang's body, intent on keeping him in bed.

Zhuge Liang traces over his back, his fingertips as gentle as if he were composing rain-soft melodies on the qin. "I have never seen a tiger."

Surprised, Sun Quan lifts his head and looks down at him. "Truly?"

"Truly."

"There are no tigers in Shu?"

With a soft sigh, Zhuge Liang stretches. His body tenses for a shivering moment that reminds Sun Quan of his orgasm before he sinks down again and continues their conversation: "Yes. Zhao Yun has stalked tigers before and brought back their fur. He invited Zhang Fei with him once. Zhang Fei complained later than Zhao Yun used him as bait."

Sun Quan chuckles. "You never wanted to go hunting?"

"I am a strategist of men, Highness, not animals."

"You observe the world. You surely watched your hawk hunt on the wing." He pauses, gauging Zhuge Liang's muted response, and strokes a hand over his chest as an offering of sympathy. "Zhou Yu told me about her."

Zhuge Liang doesn't look at him. "I did not raise her for the hunt."

"Maybe not, but you cannot deny a beast's true nature."

Another silence. Zhuge Liang gazes at the drapes above the bed. Sun Quan considers apologising, but decides against it. He fidgets, and Zhuge Liang turns his head to smile at him. "Tell me about the tiger."

Confidence returns, and Sun Quan leans his head on Zhuge Liang's shoulder. "It was a man-eater. The village headman says it killed a child and two men over the past few months. A male tiger, big and vicious, full-grown. Such animals usually stay within their own territories, but this one had left the wilderness and was hunting my people."

Beside him, Zhuge Liang stirs but says nothing.

Sun Quan settles himself close, enjoying the sensation of skin against skin. "Zhou Yu suggested we ride against it. The tiger was cunning. Several times we almost had it, but it escaped our arrows, drawing us further into the tall grass. I went alone to lure it. Zhou Yu kept the others back. It attacked me, pulled me from my horse. I..."

He hesitates, aware that he isn't narrating the story well. It doesn't sound exciting. He can't share what he felt. In the aftermath of their lovemaking, it's hard for him to remember anything but the echoes of pleasure.

Sun Quan presses his face against Zhuge Liang's chest. For a moment, he wishes he'd gone to one of his women. His concubines would squeal and tell him he could have been killed. They'd flutter and tell him how brave he was, how courageous, how no man could compare with him.

Zhuge Liang touches his face. "Zhou Yu likes to gamble."

"It was a strategy, not a risk."

"They are often the same thing." Wriggling free, Zhuge Liang turns onto his side and leans up on one elbow. His hair is mussed and damp, curling at the ends. "A strategist tries to impose order and apply logic to an event. The gambler believes in fate. To the gambler, a war can only have one outcome: win, or lose. But to the strategist, there are myriad outcomes."

He smiles. "A strategist can never be defeated in battle. Even if he backs the losing side, he has the means to justify every action and to prove that a defeat is a necessary step on the path to long-term victory."

"This is how you view Liu Bei's defeats?"

There's a flash of something in Zhuge Liang's eyes, a spark of warning. "A strategist never gives up."

Sun Quan searches his expression for a moment. "Neither do gamblers. Even if they lose everything, they'll still gamble."

Chuckling, Zhuge Liang flops back onto the mattress. "It's a compulsion."

"Gambling... or strategy?"

The chuckle becomes a full-throated laugh. "Your Highness has captured me in a net of my own making."

"Good." Sun Quan kisses his throat, murmurs the words across his skin. "I would give much to keep you captive."

He feels Zhuge Liang tense and curses himself for being too obvious in his need. Unable to take back what's been said, he's silent, swallowing the rejection.

Zhuge Liang changes the subject. "When the tiger attacked... were you afraid?"

His pride dented, Sun Quan considers lying. He decides against it. "Yes."

"Why were you afraid?"

He sits up, too aware of their closeness. The quilt tangles around his ankles and he frees it, drawing it up to cover Zhuge Liang's nakedness. The action buys him some time to think on his reply.

"I always thought I was afraid of physical pain," he says at last, gazing across the darkening room. "It's one of the many things I was sheltered from as I grew up. No broken bones, no beatings, no cuts and bruises. I was the scholarly one, the son who set himself to learn the management of a kingdom. I was kept safe, cocooned in swaddling clothes long after I'd become a man. My elder brother was the brave one; he was the son who went to war."

Sun Quan's memories carry the taint of jealousy, the sharpness of vinegar. "I remember the first time I saw him injured. It frightened me, this mess of blood and torn flesh. The pain changed my brother. He cursed and raged and refused to see even Zhou Yu. Later, when he was recovering, he complained about his helplessness. Once the wound healed, he was himself again. But I never forgot what the pain did to him. It made him... less."

"Until then, you thought he was invulnerable." Zhuge Liang's remark is soft.

"No," says Sun Quan, though he knows he means 'yes'. He shakes himself. "Today, the tiger attacked one of our guards and mauled his leg. His blood – the smell of it... Before that, it was a game. Catch the tiger; kill it. I could tell myself it wasn't real. But when I saw the blood, I knew it wasn't a game. The tiger caused pain. It could cause me pain. I had to stop it."

Zhuge Liang looks at him. "The tiger only followed its nature."

"And I followed mine!"

"No, Highness. You followed your heart."

Sun Quan stares at him, silent and doubting.

"Consider the facts, my lord." Zhuge Liang sits up, drawing his knees to his chest. "You are not a killer unless roused to it. You do not kill for sport, like some men; you do not kill for food, like an animal..."

Sun Quan interrupts. "Animals kill to protect their territory."

"Yes. It is a selfish impulse and one that keeps the animal alive. But you, my lord... you do not kill from selfish impulse. When you faced the tiger, when you drew your arrow and stared into the beast's eyes – what did you see there?"

An image flashes through his mind. Sun Quan answers without thought. "The ministers who oppose me."

"Why?"

"Because they are a danger to my people. Their inaction and endless talk of surrender angers me. They do not believe in me. They don't trust me to know what is good and right for the kingdom. Cao Cao is not the true threat to Wu. The internal squabbling of my court, the division between my ministers – this is what weakens us. What weakens me."

Zhuge Liang is silent long enough for Sun Quan to absorb the meaning of his own words. Then he says, "You would kill for your people. You would kill to keep them safe. You listen to every argument and each opinion, yet it is you who must bear the weight of every argument and opinion. Your ministers are many, and you are one. You are this kingdom; you are the people of Wu. Your decisions are never selfish, because you must think and feel and provide for a nation."

Emotion chokes him. Sun Quan bows his head. "You believe in me."

"Yes."

He looks up, wondering, afraid of his feelings. "Is this what you do – look into men's hearts and read their characters?"

Zhuge Liang's smile is sweet, uncomplicated. "Some men hide their character not deep within their heart, but upon their face." He touches Sun Quan's cheek. "The most obvious and the most devastating strategy is that of hiding in plain sight. That's what you do, my lord."

Sun Quan leans into the caress and smiles. "Does that make me wise or a fool?"

"Perhaps you're both." Zhuge Liang moves onto his knees and kisses him, then lifts his mouth to whisper, "And so, perhaps, am I."

* * * *

The next morning, Sun Quan announces his decision to the court. For once, the ministers are silent and tremble before his show of anger. He sees Zhou Yu nod his approval, but as he sweeps the room with his gaze, Sun Quan doesn't see Zhuge Liang. He feels disappointed. He wanted to share this moment with him.

Zhuge Liang doesn't enter the throne room even after the ministers have dispersed. Sun Quan waits for him beside the damaged table, his fingers rubbing at the grain of the wood sheared by his sword. At length he tires of waiting and goes to find him. As usual, Zhuge Liang is outside on the walls, flapping his fan as he studies the sky.

"I was expecting you to attend upon me," Sun Quan says. It comes out wrong. He sounds petulant rather than commanding, and it angers him.

"I heard you, Highness." Zhuge Liang smiles. "It was your triumph, not mine."

Dully, Sun Quan admits he's right. "But still..."

The fan flicks faster. "I had to prepare for the journey back to Shu. My bags, my horse..."

"You're leaving?" Sun Quan struggles against the sense of loss he feels. He'd known this would happen, but he hadn't wanted to think about it.

Zhuge Liang nods. "Yes. Our business is concluded."

"Business." The word hurts him. Sun Quan shakes his head. "Business."

At least Zhuge Liang has the grace to look ashamed. Colour tinges his cheeks and he lowers his gaze. "Our arrangement will be mutually beneficial. And, perhaps, satisfying."

Sun Quan closes his mind. He doesn't want to think of their moments of intimacy reduced to the structure of an alliance. He wants it to have meaning. He wants it to be love, given freely and not as a commodity to be bartered. He grasps at an excuse to prevent Zhuge Liang from leaving him. "The weather is not ideal for travelling west. Stay a little longer."

Zhuge Liang turns his face to the heavens, licks his fingertips and holds them high. "The wind will come round by tonight. There will be some rainfall. The dust will settle and the roads will be clear. Late evening will be the ideal time to travel." He smiles again, apologetic this time. "I must be on my way. Liu Bei is waiting for my news."

"And if I command you to stay?"

The smile fades. "I must go."

They stare at one another for a long moment, and then Zhuge Liang walks away. It's deliberate, a calculated risk: Sun Quan has not dismissed him from his presence. By rights, Sun Quan could order him back, could punish his intransigence. Instead, he lets him go, then calls out, "Kong Ming."

Zhuge Liang pauses but doesn't turn. "I don't serve you, Highness. My loyalty belongs elsewhere."

But despite this pronouncement, he remains motionless, waiting until Sun Quan says, "Go, then. Be safe."

He turns his head, flashes a look back over his shoulder. "Thank you, Highness."

* * * *

Sun Quan spends the rest of the day in a temper. He keeps away from the preparations made by his generals, but every moment of inactivity rubs against his nerves until he aches with tension. Unable to remain still, he walks in the palace gardens. The beauty of a flowering tree, the tranquillity of a pool, the intricate shapes of weathered rocks – these mean nothing when his mind is occupied by the wilfulness of Zhuge Liang.

Zhou Yu finds him on the palace walls overlooking the outer courtyard. Sun Quan stands watching Zhuge Liang ready his horse for the journey back to Shu. The animal is ordinary, as nondescript as the plain clothes Zhuge Liang wears. Even with Taoism as a reason for his humble nature, it seems inconceivable to Sun Quan that such an extraordinary man should dress so simply.

He stirs at the sound of footsteps against stone. Zhou Yu's shadow joins with his as they look into the courtyard together. Sun Quan glances at his viceroy and sees Zhou Yu's jaw tighten before he turns and smiles. "All will be well, Highness."

With a warm smile in response, Sun Quan puts a hand on Zhou Yu's shoulder. "May your travels be swift, brother. Don't deprive me of your company for too long."

"My company?" Zhou Yu murmurs. It's only half a question. Eyebrows raised, he directs his gaze back down into the courtyard towards Zhuge Liang.

Sun Quan draws in a sharp breath. His temper flares – too easily and at so little provocation, and he knows it's a weakness. "You have something to say, Viceroy?"

Zhou Yu dips his head and smiles at the deliberate formality of his title. "My lord, men like him are experienced in every form of seduction."

Sun Quan turns away, his eyes closing in denial of the implications. A good actor Zhuge Liang may be, but some things cannot be faked. He may not have been untouched, but it had been a long time since Zhuge Liang had been taken by a male lover. Sun Quan remembers the awkwardness of their first time, of the heat that built between them as they moved to a slow, gentle rhythm.

Unforgivably, the memory arouses him. Sun Quan hears again Zhuge Liang's stifled, startled gasps of pleasure; he recalls the taste of his skin, the texture of it so fine at the base of his throat. When he breathes in, Sun Quan remembers his scent, earthy and honest, and the feel of Zhuge Liang's unbound hair sweeping ticklish caresses over his belly and across his thighs. He remembers everything, and it makes him want more.

"You're wrong," he says, his voice tight.

Zhou Yu seems startled by the vehemence of his response. "Highness..."

Sun Quan rounds on him. "He seduced you, too, did he?"

An uncomfortable moment passes. Zhou Yu stares at him, expressionless. He straightens up, his back to the courtyard, and faces Sun Quan directly. "An alliance is to our advantage."

Fury wells inside him. Sun Quan closes his hands into fists, controlling his anger. "You haven't answered me."

"Kong Ming has the ability to beguile even when he doesn't speak." Zhou Yu half smiles as if remembering some pleasant memory.

"Answer me!" Sun Quan roars.

But Zhou Yu is too experienced in royal tempers to react to this. He purses his lips, looks down and shakes his head. "No. He did not seduce me."

The thorn of doubt is removed from his flesh. Sun Quan smiles, his mood passing from thunderous to sunny in the space of a heartbeat.

Zhou Yu exhales. "Highness, I advise you to be on your guard against him. It's in his nature to be manipulative. Is it wise to trust him with – with..."

Sun Quan raises his eyebrows.

"With..." Zhou Yu seems to be struggling.

"Which one is it to be – my body or my heart?" The words come out sharper than Sun Quan intends. It's easier to lie, though the taste of it is bitter on his tongue. "You think I am that foolish! Zhuge Liang is nothing to me. He's merely a convenience, a tool to further the glory of Wu. I agreed to the alliance because it profits us to do so and because you gave me good reasons in favour of it. There's no other reason."

Zhou Yu looks uncertain. "Your Highness is young. There would be no shame in admitting to an attraction, no matter how ill-advised –"

His temper rises again, a tide of anger to match his shameful desire. "There is no attraction!" Pulling himself away from the view of the courtyard, he strides across the width of the palace walls and looks down at his kingdom. A patchwork of fields and terracotta-roofed villages, grassland and forest, mountains and river, Wu is vast, rich, perfect, and yet Sun Quan compares its vast boundaries with the limits of the man who last night lay beneath him and whispered of tigers and fear, of strategy and the most dangerous gamble of all.

"He is pretty, I cannot deny it." Sun Quan swings to face Zhou Yu, summoning back his anger as if it can make his lies into the truth. "He spoke honeyed words and told me things I needed to hear. He warmed my bed a few times. But that is all. It's nothing. _Nothing_."

His voice cracks, revealing the depth of his dishonesty. Sun Quan turns away, furious at his emotions.

Zhou Yu bows. "I'm sorry, Highness."

"Leave me." Sun Quan gestures, his anger fading to leave him weary. "Take care, brother. Bring him back to me."

* * * *

Sun Quan drinks too much, too fast at the feast held for his departing generals. He says little and retires early. He dismisses his servants, wanting to be alone with his thoughts. He undresses, trailing his garments through the empty rooms of his quarters, not caring where they fall. It is almost night, and there is no one here to see him parading his brocades.

He enters his bedchamber and stops, startled by the sight that greets him. Zhuge Liang, his sash unfastened, his robes loose, a tease of pale skin between the folds of white silk. Zhuge Liang, his eyes wide and his expression strangely uncertain. He gets to his feet, but seems unable to speak.

Sun Quan approaches him. "You came back."

"I couldn't leave like that. Not without..." Zhuge Liang breaks off.

Sun Quan sinks to his knees and rests his head against Zhuge Liang's thighs. "Kong Ming."

"Highness, please." Zhuge Liang seems alarmed by the fact that a royal duke is kneeling to him. He urges Sun Quan to his feet. "My lord, please listen. It's against my nature to serve two masters. I cannot do it."

"I wouldn't ask it of you."

"I know. You're too honourable." He looks torn.

Sun Quan realises what Zhuge Liang is trying to say with such obliqueness. He exhales, startled by the suggestion and bewildered by this new decision he must make. He hesitates, unsure of himself. He cannot take advantage of such a generous offer. He is not worthy of such a sacrifice. He wavers a moment longer, then wonders if he's understood the situation wrongly. "Do you want me to ask?"

Zhuge Liang puts his fingers over Sun Quan's mouth. "Never."

Understanding passes between them, a swift frisson of emotion that binds them.

Sun Quan lifts Zhuge Liang's hand and kisses his fingers, his wrist; he pushes back his sleeve and licks at the vulnerable flesh of his inner arm. "How long can you stay?"

"An hour more, and then we must leave."

"Time enough." Sun Quan pulls him down onto the bed and holds him close. He whispers in his ear: "Beloved, let me tell you about tigers..."


End file.
